Christmas Beau

Rating:
Summary: Great, great, great!
Review: Another 5-star novel from Mary Balogh's backlist! The hero & heroine are perfectly drawn; the setting is romantic & the tension between the two is palpable; the hero's crisis of conscience is believable...Justa wonderful keeper & highly, highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: Great, great, great!
Review: Another 5-star novel from Mary Balogh's backlist! The hero & heroine are perfectly drawn; the setting is romantic & the tension between the two is palpable; the hero's crisis of conscience is believable...Justa wonderful keeper & highly, highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: One of Balogh's best
Review: Eight years ago, Judith Easton eloped, breaking her betrothal to the Viscount Evendon. Now newly widowed, she is maneuvered into spending the Christmas holidays with him, along with her two children and sister-in-law. She doesn't trust the now Marquess of Denbigh, and for good reason; he is setting her up to break her heart, in revenge for his earlier heartbreak. Both have loads of pain and guilt to deal with. A reconcilliation would take a miracle. But, fortunately, Christmas is a time for miracles..... This shows Mary Balogh at her best - no contrived plots with runaway heiresses or French spies, just two people who fight the overwhelming odds to reach for love. The final scene is heartrending, and truly inspired. Both display a newly-found maturity that allows them to put aside their past mistakes and start again. I truly love this book.

Rating:
Summary: One of Balogh's best
Review: Eight years ago, Judith Easton eloped, breaking her betrothal to the Viscount Evendon. Now newly widowed, she is maneuvered into spending the Christmas holidays with him, along with her two children and sister-in-law. She doesn't trust the now Marquess of Denbigh, and for good reason; he is setting her up to break her heart, in revenge for his earlier heartbreak. Both have loads of pain and guilt to deal with. A reconcilliation would take a miracle. But, fortunately, Christmas is a time for miracles..... This shows Mary Balogh at her best - no contrived plots with runaway heiresses or French spies, just two people who fight the overwhelming odds to reach for love. The final scene is heartrending, and truly inspired. Both display a newly-found maturity that allows them to put aside their past mistakes and start again. I truly love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Revenge is sweet... or is it?
Review: Eight years ago, Max, then Viscount Evendon, was engaged to Judith Blakeford. But, with a month to go until the wedding, she eloped with Andrew Easton. Judith found her fiancé cold and forbidding, whereas Andrew tempted her with romance and passion. Yet marriage disillusions her: her husband is a drunken debaucher who spends most of his time away from her and their children, engaging in seduction.

Eight years later, Judith, now widowed, returns to London, and encounters her former fiancé once more. Max, now the Marquess of Denbigh, has nursed a desire for vengeance for the entire eight years since she ran off, leaving her father to break the news that he'd been jilted. His once-time love for Judith has turned to hatred, and he wants revenge.

Max ensures that his and Judith's paths cross as frequently as possible, doing his best to charm his way into her children's good graces and those of her sister-in-law, Amy - that seems to be the easiest way to get Judith to spend time with him. When he succeeds in getting her to accept his invitation to spend Christmas at his estate he knows that his plan is succeeding. All he needs to do is to make her fall in love with him, the way he once loved her, and then abandon her, just as she once abandoned him. Then his revenge will be complete.

But this is Christmas, a time for love and peace and forgiveness, not a time for darkness and hatred. Can Max really sustain his desire for vengeance in the face of the woman he still loves? Can Judith overcome the memory of her fear of Denbigh and her guilt for what she once did to him - and her conviction that he means only to hurt her? Can these two people ever learn to trust one another?

This is a lovely book, and one of Balogh's better Christmas novels, a period she does so well. Its theme is very seasonal, with love, forgiveness and hope at the core of the book, and a cast of supporting characters who are alone and in need of love. There is also a very sweet secondary romance featuring two characters both of whom thought themselves never likely to fall in love or marry. The book is very hard to find, but well worth it!

Rating:
Summary: Revenge is sweet... or is it?
Review: Eight years ago, Max, then Viscount Evendon, was engaged to Judith Blakeford. But, with a month to go until the wedding, she eloped with Andrew Easton. Judith found her fiancé cold and forbidding, whereas Andrew tempted her with romance and passion. Yet marriage disillusions her: her husband is a drunken debaucher who spends most of his time away from her and their children, engaging in seduction.

Eight years later, Judith, now widowed, returns to London, and encounters her former fiancé once more. Max, now the Marquess of Denbigh, has nursed a desire for vengeance for the entire eight years since she ran off, leaving her father to break the news that he'd been jilted. His once-time love for Judith has turned to hatred, and he wants revenge.

Max ensures that his and Judith's paths cross as frequently as possible, doing his best to charm his way into her children's good graces and those of her sister-in-law, Amy - that seems to be the easiest way to get Judith to spend time with him. When he succeeds in getting her to accept his invitation to spend Christmas at his estate he knows that his plan is succeeding. All he needs to do is to make her fall in love with him, the way he once loved her, and then abandon her, just as she once abandoned him. Then his revenge will be complete.

But this is Christmas, a time for love and peace and forgiveness, not a time for darkness and hatred. Can Max really sustain his desire for vengeance in the face of the woman he still loves? Can Judith overcome the memory of her fear of Denbigh and her guilt for what she once did to him - and her conviction that he means only to hurt her? Can these two people ever learn to trust one another?

This is a lovely book, and one of Balogh's better Christmas novels, a period she does so well. Its theme is very seasonal, with love, forgiveness and hope at the core of the book, and a cast of supporting characters who are alone and in need of love. There is also a very sweet secondary romance featuring two characters both of whom thought themselves never likely to fall in love or marry. The book is very hard to find, but well worth it!

Rating:
Summary: Touching story
Review: One of Balogh's best. Lovely story with believable characters, believable problems, and best of all touchingly believable conclusion.

Eight years previously Judith Easton had jilted the Marquess of Denbigh to elope with another man. Now recently widowed she returns to London, and into the sights of the waiting Marquess. Max has had eight years to plan his subtle revenge. He will worm his way into her heart; shower her with affection and warmth. Then, when she least expects it, he will abandon her without a word. It is a good plan, a perfect plan, but as Max slowly discovers it is very hard to hurt the woman that still holds his heart.

Rating:
Summary: Touching story
Review: One of Balogh's best. Lovely story with believable characters, believable problems, and best of all touchingly believable conclusion.

Eight years previously Judith Easton had jilted the Marquess of Denbigh to elope with another man. Now recently widowed she returns to London, and into the sights of the waiting Marquess. Max has had eight years to plan his subtle revenge. He will worm his way into her heart; shower her with affection and warmth. Then, when she least expects it, he will abandon her without a word. It is a good plan, a perfect plan, but as Max slowly discovers it is very hard to hurt the woman that still holds his heart.

Rating:
Summary: A Stunning Conclusion. - ** Overall Grade: A- **
Review: Sometimes an author's words have such a profound affect their meaning is felt deep inside. For this unwavering reader, Mary Balogh's words usually have this penetrating influence. Mary Balogh is a stunning writer and the last forty pages of Balogh's CHRISTMAS BEAU are simply magnificent.

Judith Easton was once betrothed to the Viscount Evendon; however, she foolishly eloped with another man. Eight years have gone by. Now the viscount is the Marquess of Denbigh and now he is able to seek his hard-core revenge against Judith -- the woman he once cherished and loved. Yes, for eight LONG years, the marquess has planned his vengeance.

Judith Easton is in London with her two small children. Judith is now a widow and is trying desperately to escape the nightmare that was her marriage. The Marquess of Denbigh is in London also and his plans for Judith's punishment are moving forward. What the marquess does not understand: his avenging mind seeks retaliation, but his foolish heart seeks love.

Mary Balogh allows her reader to journey to the English countryside to enjoy the fun of a Regency Christmas. She gives her reader the experiences, the traditions, and the customs of Christmases past. So effective are her words that the reader CAN see visions of sugar plums dancing . . . such colorful written words . . . and then . . . Balogh unfolds her heart twisting pen.

CHRISTMAS BEAU is another Signet Regency classic from the Balogh writing desk. Although not a phenomenal read, it is still a splendid read. What happened? Perhaps the Christmas party went on a little too long before Balogh's poignant pen, once again, stirred the pages, and it is this poignant pen that is Mary Balogh's strong suit.

With a release date of December 1991, this book is no longer published and is very hard to find. Check the secondary markets and be prepared to pay, but do get a copy, for CHRISTMAS BEAU is still a wonderfully written story. Grade: A-

Grace Atkinson, Ontario - Canada.